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ISLAMABAD, Nov 3: A majority of the Supreme Court as well as the provincial high court judges either refused or were not invited to take oath under the Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO) issued after the proclamation of the state of emergency here on Saturday.

However, it was not clear whether the judges who were not invited on Saturday would be asked to take a fresh oath on Sunday or Monday.

“The development suggests that the judicial activism spearheaded by now removed Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry also had an effect on the judges,” a legal expert commented while talking to Dawn.

In the Supreme Court, only four judges out of 19 took oath under the PCO. Justice Abdul Hameed Dogar, who is the fourth in line in the seniority list, was sworn in as the new Chief Justice of Pakistan by President Pervez Musharraf. He was elevated as judge of the apex court in April 2000 when the then chief justice Saiduzzaman Siddiqui and six other judges who had refused to take oath under the PCO issued by Gen Musharraf at the time of the first coup.

Those who took oath under the fresh PCO are Justice Muhammad Nawaz Abbasi, Justice Faqir Muhammad Khokhar and Justice M Javed Buttar.

In the Sindh High Court, four judges out of 27 sitting judges took oath with Chief Justice Sabihuddin Ahmed declining to take oath.

However the most startling news came from Quetta where all the five existing judges of the Balochistan High Court took oath.

In Sindh, Justice Mohammad Afzal Soomro was sworn in as the Chief Justice who was seventh in line among the senior judges.

In Peshawar, Chief Justice Tariq Pervez Khan and Justice Shah Jehan Khan refused to take oath and Justice Talaat Qayyum Qureshi, who is third in seniority, was sworn in as Chief Justice. Only five of the 13 judges took oath. They are Justice Ijazul Hassan Khan, Justice Muhammad Qaim Jan Khan, Justice Salim Khan, Justice Said Maroof Khan and Justice Hamid Farooq Durrani.

According to an official announcement, Justice Mohammad Raza and Justice Raj Mohammad Khan would be administered oath on Monday. Four of the judges were not invited.